Are Starbucks and Chipotle union-busting by closing stores?

Big chains open and close stores all the time as a matter of course. But recent moves by Starbucks and Chipotle to close US stores in the wake of employee organizing efforts are drawing allegations from workers and labor advocates that the companies are engaging in union-busting.

Starbucks announced last week it was closing 16 US stores over concerns about crime and other community safety issues, including two stores that are unionized and one that had scheduled a union election. The company also closed a unionized store in Ithaca, New York, in June, citing concerns about the store’s faulty grease trap as well as problems with staffing.